Cummings: Either Pence is lying or was 'running a sloppy shop'

Source: Politico

By LOUIS NELSON 05/19/2017 09:46 AM EDT

Assertions from Vice President Mike Pence that he did not know of former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s work on behalf of foreign governments until he learned of them in media reports have just two explanations, Rep. Elijah Cummings said Friday. “Either he's not telling the truth, or he was running a sloppy shop.”

Cummings, the ranking member on the House Oversight Committee, noted during a Friday interview on CNN’s “New Day” that he had sent a letter to Pence, then chairman of President Donald Trump’s transition team, last November regarding Flynn’s ties to the Turkish government. Cummings received a receipt from the transition team’s office of legislative affairs, confirming they had received the letter and pledging to “review your letter carefully.”

“Either he's not telling the truth, or he was running a sloppy shop because we have a receipt, Chris, that says they received the letter. Now, I know things get mixed up in the mail. I got that,”the Maryland Democrat told CNN’s Chris Cuomo.

“But when you tell somebody — you send the letter, and it says the person that you are allowing to advise a campaign on security matters, that is getting access to briefings,” is also connected to a foreign government, Cummings continued, “and the same guy who eventually, by the way, became security adviser, the No. 1 guy, getting all of our secrets, somebody should be jumping up and down saying, 'Wait a minute, this is 17 or 20 red lights.' Chris, this is not rocket scientist stuff.”